This year I’ll be bringing an appetizer that we had as lunch this Thanksgiving. A Brussels Sprout Crostini. (We made it lunch by using toasted Italian sandwich bread slices instead of crostini sized bread slices.) The day before Thanksgiving my husband and I were watching an episode of Giada’s Holiday Handbook on Food Network and she made a charred Brussels sprout crostini for a holiday cocktail party. We looked at each other and declared, “That looks good!”

I suggested we make that for lunch on Thanksgiving, but as sandwiches with some meat. (We weren’t having our traditional Thanksgiving Brussels Sprouts since it was a small gathering this year.) We immediately headed to the store and it was the best decision ever. I fried up some pancetta to provide a crunch factor (and protein) to the sandwiches and omitted the pine nuts. I also used red wine vinegar in place of champagne vinegar because I had 3 bottles of red wine vinegar in my pantry (that’s what happens when you forget you have red wine vinegar a couple of times…).

I will be bringing an appetizer-appropriate version to the party tomorrow and will add those photos to this post after Christmas. I plan to bring everything already prepared but not assembled, allowing people to make their own crostini as they wish.

Brussels Sprouts Crostini

Ingredients:

1/4 C red wine vinegar

1/4 C sugar

1/3 C dried cranberries

1 lb Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 1/4 C ricotta cheese

4 oz pancetta, cooked and crumbled

6 slices of thinly sliced Italian sandwich bread or 24 crostini

Steps:

In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the vinegar and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the cranberries. Allow the dressing to sit for at least 10 minutes.